Which is better 1 or 3 Pinion 5C chucks?

[skipd1]

I am looking for a decent 5C collet chuck and I have noticed that some are single pinion drive and others are 3 pinion. I would guess that the 3 pinion may be better, but I have not information to justify it. Thoughts?

[chipmaker4130]

Never seen a 3. My Bison has 2 and that is convenient. Its a great chuck.

[Randy]

Two or three will be a bit more convenient. They all work the same way, so I don't see how additional pinions could be detrimental.

[mikey553]

It probably does not matter how many pinions your chuck has. Mine has 3 of them. Much more important is to get a quality chuck. There is a lot of junk floating around waiting for somebody to buy it.

[BCRider]

A 5C isn't like a scroll chuck. The rear of the collet fits into a close but sliding fit bore and the taper on the nose centers things up. And the pinions just turn a threaded collar to draw in the collet. So it's not like you want more pinions to even up the tightening.

So I'm thinking it's mostly about not having to spin the chuck around as much to find any pinion socket. Simply convenience by having two or more rather than one.

[MrWhoopee]

This